£2 fare cap in 2023 - (P1160495)

Thursday 21 September 2023 (1628) – Sign on First Eastern Counties Buses (Ipswich Reds) 44518 (YX09 ACZ), an Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro200 bodied Dart new in May 2009.

From 1 January 2023 the Government launched a scheme to encourage people back to using buses following the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government website contained the following resume:

Quote

The £2 bus fare cap was launched on 1 January 2023. The scheme supported bus operators to implement a £2 cap on eligible single tickets for adults.
The aims of the fare cap were to save passengers money and encourage more people back on the bus.
The aims of this evaluation were:
• to find out the extent to which the bus fare cap achieves its aims of saving bus passengers money and encouraging greater bus usage
• to understand how the fare cap is experienced across the country by bus users and non-users
The report includes baseline trends from the period before the £2 bus fare cap scheme was introduced, including trends in bus usage and the cost of bus travel.
Observations from the first month of the £2 bus fare cap scheme include:
• take-up of the scheme varied by region, rurality, household income and car ownership
• awareness of the scheme was high with national news acting as the main channel for raising awareness
• early evidence suggests a potentially positive impact on patronage and the cost of living
The evaluation is ongoing and further findings will be published when completed.
We commissioned Frontier Economics and SYSTRA to complete the evaluation on our behalf.
Published 17 May 2023

Unquote